Berlinale Competition Film ‘Yellow Letters’ From ‘The Teachers’ Lounge’ Director Sparks European Buying Spree (EXCLUSIVE)

Brussels-based Be For Films has unveiled a first round of international deals for “Yellow Letters,” İlker Çatak’s follow up to “The Teachers’ Lounge” which won a prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 2023 and went on to earn an Oscar nomination as Germany’s Oscar entry.

Prior to its world premiere in competition at this year’s Berlinale, “Yellow Letters” pre-sold to Germany and Austria (Alamode), Benelux (Cineart), France (Haut et Court), Italy (Lucky Red), Spain (A Contracorriente Films), Sweden (Lucky Dogs) and Switzerland (Filmcoopi), alongside Baltics (Aone), Croatia (Kino Mediteran), Hungary (Mozinet), Poland (Aurora), Serbia (Five Stars), Slovenia (Demiurg), and Ukraine (Arthouse Traffic), Greece (Cinobo), Norway (As Fidalgo), Portugal (Alambique) and Turkey (Bir Film).

“Yellow Letters” follows an artist couple Derya and Aziz who experiences the arbitrariness of the Turkish state and lose their jobs and livelihood overnight. The trade-off between their ideals and the necessities of life proves to be a challenge for their marriage.

The film reteams Çatak with Be For Films which “The Teacher’s Lounge” around the world, including in the U.S. with Sony Pictures Classics.

Çatak, who was born in Berlin to Turkish parents, says his film is “about people who have lost their employment, their social status and their right to exist in Turkish society due to state arbitrariness.”

The director, who wrote the screenplay with Ayda Çatak, said many artists “are no longer allowed to be in Turkey and I want to give these people a chance and cast our film with actors who are now or soon living in exile.”